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Midlife Fairy Dust Magic for Second Half Bliss
April 2004
Newsletter
The Midlife
Fairy Godmother Newsletter combines ancient wisdom with
modern knowledge on the art of manifesting dreams, desires, and
wishes for women 35-60 who have stopped waiting for someone
else to make their dreams come true and are ready to become their
own fairy godmother.
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Contents Of This
Issue
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Topic Of The Month:
The Art Of Creating Ceremony For Life Transitions
Next Midlife Fairy Godmothers Community Call:
Tuesday, May 11, 7:00 - 8:00 PM (eastern)
Register For Women's
Wisdom Retreats (including a cleansing and empowering
sweat ceremony) At My Home On The Web Site! First one is
Saturday, May 1st.
Coming
Soon: Exciting beginnings for the Adventurers
Club!
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Topic Of The
Month
The Art Of Creating Ceremony For
Life Transitions
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Throughout history, women have
undergone public and private ceremonies to help them make the
transition from one stage of life to another, to change a
behavior, bring things to completion, and mark new beginnings.
Ceremony has a profound and reinforcing effect on the psyche.
The renewal of interest in
ceremony can add a fruitful psychological and spiritual dimension to
our lives. Many therapies suggest commemorating an important
decision, a significant change, or a new desire with a meaningful
and memorable action. This is where ceremony becomes a magnificent
tool for personal transformation.
I participated in a Croning
Ceremony last month. Crone refers to the mother, maiden,
crone phases of a woman's life. The crone represents the phase
of a woman's life after menopause. The definition we prefer to
"an ugly, withered old woman, hag" (as Webster's describes it)
is a female leader, counselor, healer who is experienced and
wise.
It was an absolutely beautiful and
meaningful ceremony. Each woman shared the truths that she
gained in her life and honored her own wisdom. It was
tremendously inspiriting. Just like we have to wise up to the
fact that we have to become our own fairy godmothers if we want
our dreams, desires, and wishes to come true, we also have to
instate ourselves as wise women within our culture. In both
cases, nobody is going to do it for us. The time has come for us
to take charge of every aspect of our lives and we need each
other to do that.
Ceremonies mark completions and new
beginnings. They assist us with our inner adjustments when our
outer reality changes. I love to design ceremonies for
transitions, empowerment, clearing out the old, and bringing in
the new and have come up with ingredients in ceremonies that
make for powerful and lasting changes to occur.
10 Essential
Ingredients For Creating A Powerful Ceremony
1) Getting crystal clear on
your intention(s) for the ceremony. Why are you having it and
what do you want to accomplish with it?
2) Deciding when, where, and with whom you
want to do the ceremony. Choreographing a ceremony can be an
exciting adventure! Remember... you are the one who gets to have
the final say. You are in charge.
3) Leaving the familiar behind in as many
ways as possible. This can include location, dress, attitude,
etc. This helps us be open to new things, get out of old habits
and associations, and be ready for adventure and the new.
4) Understanding and harmonizing with the
purpose behind the ceremony. Aligning yourself emotionally,
mentally, physically, and spiritually with the reasons for
holding the ceremony. What do you want to accomplish with the
ceremony?
5) Including whatever else allows you to
experience "enchanted space" - music, singing, candles, etc. I
use the term "enchanted space" instead of "sacred space" because
so many of us get very serious and solemn as soon as we even
think "sacred". It is unfortunate, but true. We want reverence,
but a sweet, loving, magical reverence.
6) Having symbols of what you want to
empower and what you are leaving behind. Working with symbols is
one of the most powerful ways to access the essence of what our
intentions are. When they are physical ones, they have a
profound effect on our psyches.
7) Quieting and centering your energy as
much in the present moment as possible. I call this learning how
to "down shift" your own energy. Whether it is through
meditation, contemplation, or conscious breathing, we all have a
mind that goes all over the place unless we take control of it.
When we are present in ceremony we are alert, aware, and in our
powerful center.
8) Knowing how to deliberately raise,
focus, and direct your own energies. We were not taught how to
"self generate" our own energy so many of us live life reacting
to whatever is happening around us. When we learn how to have
control over our own energy, we are free beings. Ceremony
requires that we know how to do this.
9) Including the elements: air, earth,
fire, and water to help ground, transform, clear, and empower.
Each element has a special magic that assists and interacts with
our intentions. They assist us with bringing heaven to earth.
10) Knowing how you are going to integrate
the change into your daily life. I refer to this as
"environmental design". It involves surrounding yourself with
whatever you need to make the transition and bring the change
into the physical. Remember....the most profound insights,
revelations, and visions don't come alive until we take action
on them. This is where a healthy and supportive community,
coach, buddies are very important. In my own life, there is no
way that I would have taken some of the steps I needed to get to
where I wanted to be if not for the support, perspectives, love,
and insights of others.
Most important of all, the best
ceremonies come from the heart. They can be elaborate and well
planned or spontaneous. I have learned that the most important
qualities to bring to ceremony are heart, a sense of lightness,
joy, appreciation, and connection. Become as a little
child...enchanted, immersed in the now, excited, and open!! Then
watch the magic, the synchronicities, the serendipity begin to
interact with you in your daily life. The universe will speak to
those with the ears to hear and eyes to see.
Enjoy
(In-joy)!
Daina Puodziunas - Just call
me Dinah, Midlife Fairy Godmother
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/_\ /_\ Midlife Fairy Godmother Enterprises
(sm) - Midlife Magick ™ For Second Half
Bliss
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